Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Systematics, Biostratigraphy And Evolution Of The Late Ludlow And Pridoli (Late Silurian) Graptolites Of The Yass District, New South Wales, Australia, R B. Rickards, Anthony J. Wright

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Graptolites from the Yass district of New South Wales include important material from: low in the Black Bog Shale; from the Yarwood Siltstone Member; 2 levels high in the Black Bog Shale; 2 levels low in the Rosebank Shale; low in the Cowridge Siltstone; and in the lower part of the Elmside Formation. The faunas from the lower 4 levels are late Ludlow (early Late Silurian), and the higher 4 levels are Prídolí (late Late Silurian). Twenty-seven graptolite taxa, a considerable increase on previous records from Yass, have been identified in the late Ludlow and Prídolí of the district. These …

Nutrition And Ageing In Africa, Karen E. Charlton

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Although the proportion of elderly people in African populations is much smaller than that in developed countries, the absolute numbers of older Africans are rapidly increasing. The huge majority of Africans live in poor economic circumstances and few countries are able to offer social assistance programs. The health and wellbeing of older persons largely depend on the integral existence of informal services, social support networks and kin support. African gerontologists have urged social welfare policy makers to take cognizance of self-organized intergenerational help systems already present on the continent, and to make public-sector finance available to support these systems. Nutrition …

Validation Of A Food Frequency Questionnaire In Older South Africans, Karen E. Charlton, Estelle V. Lambert

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Objectives: To assess the validity of 213-item semi-qualified food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) in estimating habitual energy and protein intake in a sample of older South Africans. Repeatability of the FFQ was assessed by comparison of reported intakes after a 6-month period. Design: Cross-sectional analytic study Methods: Twenty-one subjects were selected from a baseline sample of 200 non-institutional subjects aged 65 years and over in Cape Town, who had previously been randomly selected for a nurtition and health survey using a two-stage cluster design. Reported dietary energy and protein intakes, estimated by means of the FFQ method, were compared with 24-hour …

Stimulus Eccentricity And Spatial Frequency Interact To Determine Circular Vection, Stephen A. Palmisano, Barbara Gillam

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

While early research suggested that peripheral vision dominates the perception of selfmotion, subsequent studies found little or no effect of stimulus eccentricity. In contradiction to these broad notions of 'peripheral dominance' and 'eccentricity independence', the present experiments showed that the spatial frequency of optic flow interacts with its eccentricity to determine circular vection magnitude—central stimulation producing the most compelling vection for high-spatial-frequency stimuli and peripheral stimulation producing the most compelling vection for lower-spatial-frequency stimuli. This interaction appeared to be due, in part at least, to the effect that the higher-spatial-frequency moving pattern had on subjects' ability to organise optic flow …

A Giant New Trimerellide Brachiopod From The Wenlock (Early Silurian) Of New South Wales, Australia, Des L. Strusz, Ian G. Percival, Anthony J. Wright, J W. Pickett, A Byrnes

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Keteiodoros bellense n.gen. and n.sp. is a remarkably large trimerellide brachiopod from the Wenlock Dripstone Formation, southeast of Wellington, central New South Wales. The probable articulatory mechanism is unusual for trimerellides. It apparently involved both flattened sections of the lateral commissures which acted as pivots for opening and closing the shell, and a large and strongly modified articulating plate (which partly envelopes a robust dorsal umbo) articulating with the pseudointerarea at the posterior end of the ventral platform. The heavy dorsal umbo probably acted as a counterbalance to the anterior part of the valve; the diductor muscles were apparently attached …

Micronutrient Status Of Older Coloured South Africans, K E. Charlton, Petro Wolmarans, Marita Kruger, Demetre L. Labadarios, Ingrid Aronson, Carl J. Lombard

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Objective. To investigate the dietary intake and nutritional status of older coloured South Africans in the Cape Peninsula with regard to their micronutrient status. Design. Cross-sectional analytical study. Methods. A random sample of 200 non-institutionalised subjects in Cape Town aged ^ 65 years was drawn using a two-stage cluster design. Trained fieldworkers interviewed subjects to obtain demographic, dietary and lifestyle data, to draw fasting blood samples for biochemical, haematological, iron status and vitamin D (serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D)), serum vitamin B12 and red blood cell folate analyses. Nutrient intake was assessed with a validated quantified food frequency questionnaire. Results. The …

Southern Africa Is Good Place To Research Role Of Fetal Malnutrition In Chronic Diseases, A Rp Walker, K E. Charlton

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Editor — We are interested in Scrimshaw's allusion to populations in Latin America in his editorial on the relation between fetal malnutrition and chronic disease in later life. There, in the 1960s, despite a high prevalence of low birth weight, the preva­ lence of atherosclerosis and of myocardial infarction was low.

Practising Nursing Therapeutically Through Acting As A Skilled Companion On The Illness Journey, Alan Pearson, Sally Borbasi, Ken Walsh

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This article explores nursing's heritage as a healing, therapeutic activity. It examines the central characteristics of nursing as skilled companionship and links them with the foundational core of nursing-a therapeutic relationship based on an understanding of the illness experience. In addition, it discusses the role of literature and performance in developing knowledge to advance nursing as a therapeutic activity.

Graptolite Zonation In The Late Wenlock (Early Silurian), With A New Graptolite-Brachiopod Fauna From New South Wales, R B. Rickards, Anthony J. Wright

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

The Panuara Formation at Cobblers Creek near Orange, New South Wales, Australia has yielded a graptolite-brachiopod fauna assigned to the sherrardae sub-Biozone (late Wenlock: Early Silurian). The sherrardae sub-Biozone as defined here is equivalent to the praedeubeli subBiozone, and is the lowest part of the ludensis Biozone. The ludensis Biozone is reappraised following restudy of the type specimens of Monograptus ludensis, which are shown to exhibit growth stages from the deubeli to the gerhardi condition. The graptolite fauna consists of Gothograptus chainos Lenz, G. marsupium Lenz, Pristiograptus jaegeri Holland, Rickards & Warren, Pristiograptus dubius (Suess), Monograptus ludensis (Murchison), Monograptus moorsi …

Physical Activity, Change In Blood Pressure And Predictors Of Mortality In Older South Africans - A 2-Year Follow-Up Study, Karen E. Charlton, Estelle V. Lambert, Judith Kreft

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Objective. A 2-year follow-up study of a cohort of 200 historically disadvantaged older South Africans was conducted to: (i) characterise current levels of habitual physical activity; (ii) relate physical activity to current risk factors for chronic disease; and (iii) identify risk factors associated with 2-year mortaJity. The baseline sample, drawn in 1993, was found to have a high prevalence of hypertension (71.7%). Research design. Retrospective cohort study. Methods. A baseline sample of 200 persons aged ;:;.. 65 years, resident in the Cape Peninsula, was randomly drawn by means of a two-stage cluster design. Baseline measurements included: anthropometry, waist/hip ratio, systolic …

The Prevalence Of Diabetes Mellitus And Associated Risk Factors In Elderly Coloured South Africans, Karen E. Charlton, Naomi S. Levitt, Carl J. Lombard

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Objective. To determine the prevalence of diabetes and its associated risk factors in elderly coloured South Africans. Research design. Cross-sectional analytical study. Methods. A random sample of 200 non-institutionalised coloured (mixed ancestry) subjects aged 65 years of age, resident in urban Cape Town, was drawn by means of a two-stage cluster design. The survey procedure included an oral glucose tolerance test, anthropometric measurements, and physical activity and alcohol intake assessments. Results. The prevalence of diabetes was 28.7% (95% Cl 21.7 - 35.7%), 25.7% in men and 30.3% in women. The prevalence of impaired glucose tolerance was 15% (95% Cl 9.2 …

Vitamin D Status Of Older South Africans, K E. Charlton, D Labadarios, C J. Lombard, M E. J Louw

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Objective. To determine the vitamin D status of older 'coloured' South Africans who had not sustained a fracture. Design. Cross-sectional analytic study.

Methods. A random sample of 200 non-institutionalised subjects in Cape Town aged 65 years was drawn using a two-stage cluster design. Trained fieldworkers interviewed subjects to obtain demographic, dietary and lifestyle data, to draw fasting blood samples for the analysis of serum 25-hydroxyvilamin 0 (25(OH)O) and other biochemical parameters. and to take anthropometric measurements.

Results. Seventeen per cent of the subjects (95% Cl: 11.4 - 22.6%) had serum 25(OH)D levels in the deficient range for the elderly « …

A Genetic Classification Of Floodplains, G C. Nanson, J C. Croke

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Floodplains are formed by a complex interaction of fluvial processes but their character and evolution is essentially the product of stream power and sediment character. The relation between a stream's ability to entrain and transport sediment and the erosional resistance of floodplain alluvium that forms the channel boundary provides the basis for a genetic classification of floodplains. Three classes are recognised: (1) high-energy non-cohesive; (2) medium-energy non-cohesive; and (3) low-energy cohesive floodplains. Thirteen derivative orders and suborders, ranging from confined, coarse-grained, non-cohesive floodplains in high-energy environments to unconfined fine-grained cohesive floodplains in low-energy environments, are defined on the basis of …

Scruttonia (Rugosa, Cnidaria) From The Devonian Of Western Australia, Anthony J. Wright

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Phillipsastrea delicatula Hill. 1936. from probably the early Frasnian (early Late Devonian) of the Lennard Shelf, Western Australia. is assigned to the cosmopolitan rugose coral genus Scruttonia. Its occurrence there supports the previously reported cosmopolitan nature of Late Devonian rugose coral faunas and the faunal similarities between eastern and Western Australia in the Devonia.

A New Early Devonian Spinose Phacopid Trilobite From Limekilns, New South Wales: Morphology, Affinities, Taphonomy And Palaeoenvironment, Anthony J. Wright, W Haas

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Paciphacops (Paciphacops) crawfordae n.sp. is a distinctive spinose phacopid trilobite of late Pragian (Early Devonian) age from the deepwater, dysaerobic Rosedale Shale, Limekilns district, New South Wales. It is characterised by short occipital, genal and intergenal spines on the cephalon, and short thoracic spines on the axial rings and pleurae. Various combinations of such spines are developed in P. (Paciphacops) serratus Foerste (Lochkovian, New South Wales; Ludlovian, Kazakhstan?) and P. (Paciphacops) claviger Haas (Siegenian, Nevada), but the three species cannot be shown to be related.

A Study Of Headache In North American Primary Care: Report For The Ambulatory Sentinel Practice Network, L A. Becker, Donald C. Iverson, F M. Read, N Calogne, R S. Miller, W L. Freeman

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Headache is a common symptom in primary care about which surprisingly little is known. Over a 14-month period 3847 patients making 4940 consecutive visits for headache to 38 primary care practices in the USA and Canada were studied. The clinical characteristics of patients, as well as the diagnostic and therapeutic strategies employed by their doctors, were examined. Visits for headache represented 1.5% of all visits during this period. Most patients (72.0%) made only one visit, and nearly half of the headaches reported were new. Only a small number of patients (3.0%) received a computerized tomographic scan; other investigations were used …

The Archaeology Of Social Complexity In South-East Queensland, Michael Morwood

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

The widespread alliance systems of Australian Aboriginal society had an economic and survival value in harsh environments, but in resource-rich areas such as South-east Queensland it is more a question of strategies for increasing regional carrying capacity. Recent archaeological results in the area, with evidence of increases in site numbers and artefact deposition rates and diversification of subsistence resources to include small-bodied species, show the development of new patterns of technology, economy and demography following major environmental changes in the post-Pleistocene period. Widespread changes in Australian prehistory around 4000 years ago may have been triggered in certain key areas such …

A New Species Of The Brachiopod Notanoplia (Notanopliidae) From The Early Devonian Of New South Wales, Anthony J. Wright

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Notanoplia mitchelli sp. nov., a new notanopliid brachiopod, is described from Bowning, N.S.W., probably from the Lochkovian (Early Devonian) Elmside Formation. The distinctive genus is known only from Early and Middle Devonian rocks, and is known from Australia and Western Europe, and possibly from China.

Evaluation Of A New Zealand Tremadocian Trilobite, Anthony J. Wright

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Dionide hectori Reed, 1926, is shown on the basis of new collections from the type area in New Zealand to be a Tremadocian ceratopygide close to Hysterolenus. The species was placed in Taihungshania by Kobayashi (1941). It was provisionally retained in the Taihungshaniidae by Lu (1975) who made hectori type species of a new genus Hectoria (non Hectoria Trechmann, 1918). Ruapyge nom.nov. is proposed here for the reception of hectori. The original length/width ratio is determined by Wellman's method, with little consistency in results. Data from the strain ellipses constructed by Wellman's method are then used to calculate values for …

Microbial Water Stress, A D. Brown

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

A fellow of my acquaintance, on seeing a colleague drink undiluted water (55.5 molal), has been known to comment in disapproval that water at such a concentration should not be used for that purpose and that its main function is for putting around the outside of boats. He conceded that dilution with a little salt is acceptable for boats but for no other purpose. The proponent of this philosophy is not a biologist and it is unlikely that many biologists would accept his generalization without some qualification. Nevertheless, it is a point of view. Another point of view with which …